Lost and Found
by misanoe
Summary: It's been six years since Hermione's disappearance when Bill Weasley stumbles across a girl that bears a startling resemblance to her. *Sigh* I accidently deleted the story and had to repost everything. Fixed minor errors, and put chapter 4 up. Your begin
1.


    **Lost and Found**
    Chapter 1: The Beginning
    written by: misanoe
    Posted: May 9, 2005
    Missing
    Hermione Granger
    Brown eyes brown hair
    Age: 19
    _She was gone and I was unable to find her. Unable to save her from
    whatever had happened. Why was it the people I cared the most about
    disappeared or vanished from my life, leaving me with things that didn't
    matter. I now went on with the hope that I would find her. For over two
    years I've searched, and I won't stop. I will ... find her._
    May 15, 2011
    Bill Weasley was walking in the woods hungry and a tad bit disgruntled
    after seven straight hours of searching for a cave that did not exist.
    Here he was, sent out to expand the treasures of Gringrotts by finding
    this mystical cave and it's treasures, and he was getting no where. _Mystical
    cave my ass_ he thought to himself as he stumbled through the forest
    searching for a cave that was supposed to resemble the mouth of a dragon.
    Sitting down to rest his sore feet, he reached in his dusty jacket to
    get the map Gringrotts had given him. Taking our a pencil he plotted the
    land that he had covered. _I'll roast in bloody hell before I retrace my
    steps in this bloody jungle because I'm unsure of the terrain I covered.
    _Keeping this in mind, he studiously made sure that every hour he stopped
    to plot his progress.
    He had been in the bloody forest for over a month now and swore he was
    going to go crazy if he didn't get out soon. It was a pity he wasn't allowed
    to apparate. Not that it would help him much if he could, you could only a
    pparate to a certain place when you knew the location. Obviously he did not
    know the location. _Damned Gringrotts, deciding to open up to new ventures
    with the promise of a gruesome amount of wealth. A bloody fairy tale. _He
    was traipsing in these woods because of a fairy tale that told of a cave,
    with treasures. He hated his life. Shoving the map back in his pocket, he
    trudged along recollecting the words that got him here.
    _"Bill Weasley, Gringrotts have decided to turn with time. We have decided
    to take new risks, ventures. As one of the most dedicated and loyal employees,
    we have decided that you would be the honored employee to assign this important
    task."_
    _Honored employee, important task, my bloody ass_. He was running
    around the trees in search of a make believe cave with a map that could have
    been taken out of his younger sister's old book of tales. His only consolation
    at this moment in time was that one week break he would be given after he had
    completed 50 days. He was on 34 looking forward to a bed and his mums cooking.
    His mind glossed over the fact that he would have to return after a week to
    complete another 50 days.
    He began to wonder if the rest of his life was going to revolve around these
    bloody trees. The last time he had owled Gringrotts to report his progress or
    lack thereof, he had been owled back with the response, "Continue your search."
    _Bloody encouraging, these goblins. _
    _I joined Gringrotts for adventure, a chance to prove myself in life. Do
    something challenging, not run around chasing fairy tales. _
    The most oblivious wizard in the world would not have missed the unearthly
    glow coming from the ahead clearing. Neville Longbottom would not have missed it,
    and well, Bill prized himself on being very sharp. It was no surprise he instantly
    noticed the glow, however, in doing so he missed the tree root on the ground and
    tripped face first into the earth. Spitting out a mouthful of dirt, he swore under
    his breath and staggered up. Looking up he once again noticed the glow that peeped
    out from the trees in between them. Taking out his wand from his back pocket,
    he cautiously approached the clearing, using the trees as cover. Bill Weasley was
    not prepared for what he saw.
    Incredible, there was no other way to describe it. In the center of the
    clearing, which was free of trees and shrubs stood a girl who seemed to be petting
    thin air. Her shiny dark chocolate hair fell into wavy curls at her waist. There
    was no doubt in Bill's mind that the glow was coming from her. Young old he could
    not tell. Her pale milky skin had an unearthly glow that beckoned to him. He was
    entranced and watched her murmur to her invisible companion in a hushed voice,
    her white robe swirling around her. _Whatever she was, she was not ordinary. No
    muggle had this aura, nor magic user._
    He watched her lean her head forward as though she was listening and was
    caught unaware when she turned her head to stare directly at him. There was no
    use hiding and he knew it, the trees covered him but from her knowing gaze, it
    was to no avail. He was caught. He braved forward through the thicket and forced
    himself into the clearing.
    She turned her head, before Bill could get a good look he was slammed against
    the closed tree trunk and held down by an invisible force, the blow knocking the
    breath out of his lungs._ What the hell? _Looking down he struggled valiantly,
    unable to get out of the powerful grip that pressed him against the tree.
    "Don't kill him just knock him out."
    Bill looked up again when he heard her voice. It struck him as familiar and the
    blood drained out of his face when he got a close look of the girl's face.
    "Hermione!" he yelled hoarsly, his throat struggling for air.
    She looked directly into his eyes.
    "You don't belong here."
    _Hermione Granger _repeated through his mind again and again, the last thing
    his brain acknowledged before he blacked out from the lack of air.
    


	2. 


    **Lost and Found **
    Chapter 2: Past Reflections
    written by: misanoe
    Ow, was the first thought that entered Bill's mind when he woke up on bumpy
    ground, sharp stones poking at him through his clothes. What the hell had
    happened? Looking around, he took in his surrounding and realized he was
    slumped half way against a tree trunk in the god awful forest. It was dark,
    and he was alone. If he was alone ... where was Hermione!
    At the thought of her name, his mind immediately jumped to Harry. Harry ...
    he had been searching for Hermione for six years. After her disappearance,
    Harry had gone temporarily mad, tracing every step she might have taken that
    fateful day six years ago. Every inch he went over, looking for her. For a
    year the magic community had been more then happy to help the search for
    Hermione, but their hopes dimmed after months of search without a trace of
    her. Even Ron and the Weasley family had given up on finding her; sure she
    was now resting with Harry's parents above. But Harry, nothing could stop
    him.
    Bill had been worried that Harry would waste away in his desperate search for
    her. The events of her disappearance were very curious, almost suspicious.
    The most powerful magicians could not find the slightest hint of a trace. No
    idea what could have happened to her, she had dropped from the face of the
    earth; into this godforsaken forest Bill grimly added as an afterthought.
    Bill could still clearly recollect the day he had found out she had gone
    missing. When he closed his eyes, he could picture perfectly that day and the
    hectic weeks that followed. Well, it was from his vantage point and there
    were many things about her disappearance that were still a mystery to him, leaving
    big gaps that his imagination had been left to fill. Bill had spent most of
    his time away from home, his work led him to exotic places with the duty of
    filling Gringotts coffers. It was, and still is a demanding job that gave him
    little time to come home and be caught up with what went about. He was the
    last to know when Ginny had her first boyfriend, although he did help partake
    in the *cough* screening *cough* Charlie, Percy, Fred, George, Ron, Harry and
    himself had done on the poor bloke. Six boys and the youngest a girl, the
    blighter didn't have a chance. Charlie's engagement to that girl took him by
    total surprise, he never knew it had gotten so serious. To tell you the truth,
    he didn't even know that Charlie was seeing anyone. And Charlie was the one
    he was closest to.
    Bill found out a week after Hermione disappeared, that she was gone. No one
    had told him, and when he had come home for a visit, he found the house
    swamped with people. It wasn't until he bumped into Harry, that he found out what
    had happened. The pandemonium that surrounded him when he appartated in his
    house, foreshadowed the serious nature of her disappearance.
    ******************************************************************************
    It was there and then, when he was walking to his room to put his pack down,
    that he collided into a frantic Harry.
    "My god you look like hell."
    Harry stared at him, his bloodshot eyes seemed to look right through him and
    Bill wasn't sure if Harry saw him.
    "Bill," rasped Harry weakly. Harry's eyes took several seconds to focus on
    Bill's face. "Hermione's gone, We can't find her." He uttered.
    Bill had never known Hermione very well. The most he could recollect at that
    moment was that she was a close friend of Ron's. He had seen her once or
    twice at the Weasley household when he came to visit for a summer, hanging
    out with Ron and Harry. She was head girl of Hogwarts, his mother had been
    sure to tell him. But beyond that ... he had no clue. Bill searched for
    something to say that would calm the young man in front of him.
    "Don't worry. I'm sure she's fine."
    "I-I can't find her." Harry closed his eyes and leaned against the hallway.
    Harry startled Bill when he snapped his head up suddenly, his eyes fighting
    gravity by forcing themselves open.
    "I have to go."
    Bill watched Harry's figure walk quickly and determined towards the kitchen.
    His shoulders were sagging and his head tilted slightly down like a wilting
    flower. What the hell is going on Bill muttered to himself.
    Bill climbed the stairs and walked towards Ron's room and reached for his
    door, his hand stopped above the handle and he changed his mind. Ron would be
    distraught and he didn't want to make it worse by asking what happened. He
    decided it would be better if he got the details elsewhere. He began to roam
    around the house, trying to avoid the dozens of people that buzzed around in
    his house. He didn't stop until he found Charlie, who was sitting down on a
    chair in the backyard, his head resting wearily against his hand.
    "Charlie." Bill called as he stepped into the yard. It was surprisingly empty
    of the bustling people, with the same goal of retrieving one young girl.
    Charlie's looked up and smiled wryly when he caught sight of Bill.
    "Bloody glad your here you git." He threw an arm around Bill, enveloping him
    in a brotherly hug. "What took you so long?"
    "I had a little time to rest before my next assignment. I decided to visit
    mum and dad and I just bumped into dozens of people and Harry who told me
    Hermione had gone missing?"
    Charlie looked at him in askance.
    "Oh my. No one must have thought to tell you, it's so hectic right now."
    Charlie began to walk towards the door leading into the house.
    "Charlie wait," Bill spoke up. "What's going on?"
    Charlie had stopped when he heard Bill's voice and stood there, looking as
    though he was unsure of what to say.
    "Hermione Granger didn't come home 8 days ago."
    "She might have just gone off somewhere." Bill looked at Charlie, who's eyes
    were at the moment trying to avoid his.
    "What are you not telling me?"
    Charlie averted his gaze towards the door.
    "C'mon, let's go show mum your here. I'll explain everything to you later."
    They were hit with a barrage of chatter and activity when they slid open the
    glass door that led to the kitchen.
    "Crowds of magic users going in and out her parents house would make the
    muggles in their neighborhood suspicious. It's better to keep the search
    party here. Both her parents are here though." Charlie muttered to Bill as
    they fought their way through the crowds of people to get to the living room.
    "That's where mum, dad, Dumbledore, and several other people should be
    gathered. It's kind of like the headquarters for her search."
    "I still don't understand," said Bill. "She could just be off taking a
    sabbatical for all we know. This is madness." He looked around pointedly at
    the dozens of magicians around them. "Bloody hell, even if she has been gone
    for a spell, why involve everyone? Surely we could handle it with fewer
    people."
    "You have no idea." Charlie batted away the broom that fell in his way. He
    stopped and waited for Bill to catch up. "Well, here we are."
    "Gee, thanks." Bill rolled his eyes at Charlie. "I forgot where the living
    room was."
    "Oh, yeah. Sorry." Charlie grinned sheepishly. "It's been so crazy these past
    few days, little things are slipping my mind."
    "Kind of like remembering you have a brother named Bill that used to live
    here, and would have appreciated a letter telling him of what's been going
    on." Bill asked dryly.
    "Yeah, that." His gaze became distracted as he opened the door that lead to
    the living room.
    ******************************************************************************
    _
    She walked to the river, it was cleansing, able to erase the hurt of the
    past. The past; lives swirling around her head in continuos turmoil. She was
    never completely sure if she was herself, or someone long gone. When had her
    life become so confused, so twisted? Fate; the word haunted her. Fate meant
    she was not in control of her future. She wanted control, a choice to what
    she did. Her destiny conflicted with her emotions. She was so muddled right
    now she couldn't choose. Didn't know if it was her choice to make._
    ******************************************************************************
    "Bill!" Mrs. Weasley, looked up in shock then jumped up to bombarded her son
    with tight hugs and kisses on his cheeks and forehead. "I'm so sorry. I can't
    believe I forgot to owl you. It's been so hectic, nothing is going the way it
    should." Holding him tightly to her, she continued to ramble on. "Hermione
    disappeared and we can't find her. None of us can. We don't know where she is
    or what has happened. She could be anywhere? But if she was, we should have
    been able to trace her. Oh Bill, we don't know what to do."
    "Mum," Bill tried to disentangle himself from his mother. "Mum, it's okay.
    And Charlie has already explained what's happened." He shot a look over his
    mother's shoulder towards Charlie, who in turn nodded to him. _Ok so maybe he
    hasn't explained everything, but he'll tell me later. _
    Mrs. Weasley clung to her son. "You don't understand Bill. We can't find
    her," she said in distraught.
    "Now dear, let Bill go." Mr. Weasley gently took his wife's hands from Bill
    and held them for a second, reassuring them with his own. He turned his weary
    eyes on Bill and smiled a smile that seemed to strain his face. But the
    warmth for his son was genuine when he pulled him into a hug. Letting go he
    motioned for Bill to sit on the purple patched couch formerly occupied by
    himself.
    Mr. Weasley himself began to pace around the room, he stopped to glance at
    Bill.
    "I'm glad to see you son, I just wish it weren't under these circumstances."
    Mr. Weasley continued to pace around, following his course on the worn
    carpet. The room was empty except for his parents, Charlie, and himself. It
    was dim, lighted only by the flickering flames in the small brick fireplace.
    "So what are we doing now?" Bill imposed, after a moment of silence.
    Mr. Weasley turned to face Bill.
    "We're searching for her. Dumbledore has gone off to Hogwarts to use his own
    means to see if he can find Hermione. There are also several other powerful
    witches and wizards that have gone about their own way to try and seek her."
    He ran his hand through his ruffled red hair. "The ministry has arranged a
    search party which has been meeting as you see, at our house."
    "It's not that I don't like Hermione," Bill broached," but this all seems a
    little extreme. There are people, well, everywhere. And the ministry is
    involved?" He stood up. "Is there something I'm missing?"
    It was at that moment Dumbledore chose to appear right in front of him. Bill
    startled, took a step back and tripped back onto the couch.
    Sparing a glance at Bill, Dumbledore faced Mr. Weasley and said, "I cannot
    locate her."
    Mr. Weasley turned pale and a strangled noise came from the other side of the room.
    Bill stood up, to go to his father.
    Mr. Weasley stopped him with a raised hand. "I'm all right Bill. Charlie,
    take your mother to her room to rest."
    Charlie glanced to and fro his mother and father. Getting up, he made up his
    mind and followed his father's orders, escorting his trembling mother out of
    the room.
    Dumbledore turned back around to face Bill and smiled.
    "Hello Mr. Weasley."
    Bill stood up once again and nodded his greetings.
    "As to your question," Bill's ears perked up when he heard Dumbledore.
    "Well you see, Miss Granger is," Dumbledore paused for a second, searching
    for the right words to describe her, "Very special."
    ******************************************************************************
    


	3. 


    **Lost and Found**
    Chapter 3: The Tie That Binds
    written by: misanoe
    It had been two weeks since he had seen Hermione and Bill was getting
    frustrated. His search for the cave had turned into the search for Hermione,
    with discouraging results. Once again, he found himself without an inkling of
    how to find her. Settling for the old fashioned way, he had trod on foot
    for the past two weeks looking for the same glow that had directed him to her
    in the first place. The only thing that kept him from dismissing what he saw
    as some strange hallucination or dream was the single strand of brown hair he
    had found on the floor and her scent.
    Perhaps he had gone crazy, in the woods with no human contact for weeks;
    he swore however, he could still smell a faint sweet scent, lingering on the
    grass she had once stood. Closing his eyes he recalled her figure to mind, more
    then once grateful to his photographic memory. With it, he was able to go over
    every detail of her in his mind over and over again.
    As he took the time to inspect her, he once again found himself mesmerized
    by her unearthly beauty, it enchanted him. Not so different from Veela, but
    still, Bill had never fallen for any Veela charms.
    Her hair was darker and longer which could have been accounted to the
    years she had been missing, but nothing ordinary could explain the glow that
    emanated from her. Continuing to inspect the image in his head he suddenly
    found what he had been missing, what had been right in front of him the whole
    entire time.
    He realized that he had been an idiot. When Hermione had stared at him there
    was no recognition. None at all, and although he could probably count the
    number of times he had met her on one hand, she had been the head girl of
    Hogwarts; they were known for their intelligence and superb memory, she would
    have remembered him. He remembered her, but how could he not?
    ******************************************************************************
    Two weeks had went by without a trace of her. Bill felt as exhausted as Harry
    looked. Harry, he was driving himself to hard. When Bill got close enough to
    him, there were periods where he swore he could see the agony reflecting
    through Harry's eyes. Ron hadn't been much better. When he sought him out,
    Ron had launched himself into Bill's arms and began to babble about Hermione.
    After a while he pulled himself out of Bill's comforting arms, embarrassed of
    his weakness. Giving his brother a proper handshake, he gave his apologies
    and apparated away to join in the search for Hermione.
    They had been combing the area, their ventures were growing wider and wider
    with each passing day. Bill could feel the tension in everyone growing, he himself
    was almost at his breaking point. This search was taking it's toll on everyone,
    and at this point, he wasn't sure if they were ever going to find her. He was
    so tired, he needed to escape. The air he shared with everyone else seem to suffocate
    him; grabbing a broomstick, he apparated outside his house and flew off into
    the night.
    The cool wind whipped his long bangs onto his face, he could barely feel the
    sting; exhilarated with his ride. Whizzing dangerously in the air, he flew
    recklessly abandoning all caution. The harder he rode, the more the stress
    began to subside within him. All he could hear was the wind buzzing by his
    ears, his mind closed to everything else. He flew as high as he could, as
    fast as he could, surrendering himself to the night.
    It was several hours before he landed, to exhausted to fly anymore. Tumbling
    off his broom he laid on the cool dirt floor, surrounding by towering trees
    that cast their shadows about him. Closing his eyes he tried to empty his
    head of all thought. He was tired of thinking, all he wanted was rest away
    from home. Blissfully he laid on the ground, the grass cushioning his body.
    Unaware, his thoughts ran away from him and a picture swirled into focus
    under his closed eyelids. It was Hermione. His mother had procured a picture
    of her after her disappearance, and it was used to show everyone who had
    never met Hermione, who they were looking for.
    Her hair was slightly wavy and a little beneath her shoulders. There were
    remnants of baby hairs that poked out of the top edge of her forehead,
    stubbornly refusing to be straightened with the rest of her hair. Her eyes
    were brown, and her pose in the picture was slightly prim and proper, similar
    to the stance his brother Percy always took on. The difference was her face,
    which held a slight smile and a twinkle in her eye, resonating a good humored
    warmth his younger brother did not possess.
    She wore the standard black robes that Hogwarts required, with the letter H
    pinned on the left breast of her robe. H for head, Bill had once worn a pin
    very similar to hers. There was nothing extra ordinary about her, where would
    she go? Who would take her, why would they take her? Thousands of questions
    pounded his mind, his intellect trying to come up with a plausible
    explanation for her disappearance. If she had been kidnapped, it would've have
    had to be strong magic to leave no trace to even Dumbledore.
    Studying the picture in his head, he attention was drawn to her face. She
    smiled at him knowingly, seemingly aware of all his secrets. There was
    nothing special about her appearance, nothing that separated her from
    everyone else. She was not ugly, nor beautiful; she was a simple pretty.
    Bill opened his eyes to wipe the picture out of his mind, replacing it with
    his surroundings. Staring at the deep black sky, he could not help wonder
    what she was doing at this moment. If she was even alive.
    The stars twinkled serenely at him and Bill began to drift off to sleep,
    ignoring the slightly damp ground he laid on, and the chill night air that crept
    into his body.
    _You won't find what you are looking for. Not yet, it is not time. It
    will be soon enough, and you will find what you seek.
    "Wait, do you know what I'm looking for?" Bill cried out to the air.
    Do you know what you are looking for?
    "I'm looking for Hermione."
    Silly child. You already know where she is. The wind whispered to him,
    gently caressing him with her breath.
    "What do you mean?" He called out around him.
    The only reply he got was the gently gush of a breeze. And then, silence
    filled the air._
    Bill woke up, his neck aching from the hard floor. Where was he? He
    looked around, the forest was luminated from a crevice in a tree. Getting up he
    walked towards the light; mesmerized. It was a wand laid in between the
    gnarled roots of an old tree that lit up the forest. It shone so brightly it
    hurt his eyes to look at it. Take it a voice in his head uttered. Bill dumbly
    followed the instructions, unable to break the trance he was in.
    As soon as he touched it the light had subsided to a gentle glowing, growing
    dimmer and dimmer by the second. Picking it up in his hand, he snapped out of
    the haze that had covered his brain sure of one thing; this wand belonged to
    Hermione.
    Grabbing his broomstick, he quickly apparated out of the forest; clutching
    her wand in his hand.
    The forest was once again pitch black; with the loss of it's former
    occupant.
    _Not yet, not now,_ the night filled the forest with it's silent voice.
    _Soon enough_
    ******************************************************************************
    Unsurprisingly, the uproar Bill expected of the people at his house
    occurred when he procured her wand. Hermione's closest friends immediately
    recognized the wand, turning deathly pale at it's implications. A witch or
    wizard carried their wand with them wherever, regardless of situation. It was
    something you didn't leave at home or on the floor somewhere. That she was
    without it was enough to make people talk.
    It was Harry and Ron who were the most effected by the news. They were
    the only ones who knew that Hermione could not have left or lost her wand
    somewhere in the middle of the forest by accident. When Harry had misplaced
    his wand that one time to find that it had been taken by Barty Crouch,
    Hermione had later insisted that Harry, Ron, and herself perform a complicated
    spell on their wands that would bind them to themselves.
    _ "Harry, Ron!"
    Both boys looked up to see Hermione crawling through the entrance, book
    in one hand, brown bag in the other.
    "What?" Ron grunted, it was after all two in the morning.
    "Hermione," Harry asked curiously, "why did you tell us to meet you at two
    in the morning? And where have you been?"
    "We're going to bind our wands to us." She declared lifting the hand that
    contained the book in the air for them to read.
    "101 Useful Spells." Ron looked at her as though she had sprouted horns
    from her head. "Are you mad? Waking us up at this time for this?"
    "Don't you think your going a little overboard Hermione?" Harry
    questioned. Rod nodded emphatically.
    Hermione looked at them in indignation. "This past year has shown us we
    need to be on constant guard." She looked directly at Harry. "From the looks
    of it, we're going to be facing some hard times. I for one, do not plan on
    facing death-eaters and you-know-who without my wand because I dropped it or
    left it at home."
    "That's great and all Hermione but two in the morning?" Ron repeated, to
    point out the obvious madness of being awake at this time.
    "I had to wait until it was late enough to sneak into Professor Snape's
    office to borrow certain items we need for the spell. And the sooner we have
    this spell completed, the better."
    Harry lifted an eyebrow as he heard Hermione tell him she had gone off to
    borrow certain items from Snape. But Hermione time and again had proven that
    she was willing to break the rules for the greater good. And to her, this was
    obviously the greater good. Harry wasn't sure he disagreed with her. He was
    able to use magic through his wand, he did not want a repeat of the
    helplessness he had felt when he had first discovered it's missing.
    "All right," Ron grumbled. "The quicker we start the sooner we finish and
    go back to sleep."
    Hermione had been paying no attention to them for the past minute, busy
    with mixing up the ingredients in the correct order. Using her time
    efficiently, she was able to come up with a dark bubbling purple sludge
    within ten minutes, making Harry wonder if she had been practicing these
    motions before. Probably he told himself. It was Hermione, she didn't like to
    leave things to chance. __I hope we don't have to drink that._ He peered at the
    smelly concoction before him, watching Hermione take out small cups from her
    bag, only to fill each with a big glop of the thick paste like substance. His
    hopes didn't seem to be faring to well at the moment.
    "Okay, take your wand and dip the tip of the end into your cup making
    sure that the bottom is fully covered with a bit of the potion. Afterwards
    you need to shout 'Planvisero Plendium', remove the wand and then drink the
    potion."
    Harry and Ron winced simultaneously. Of course Harry thought to himself.
    "Is it me or do the potions we make always turn out to be the nastiest
    things?" Said Ron voicing Harry's own thoughts.
    "Just do it."
    They each grabbed their cup, Harry and Ron eyeing their's warily before
    they dipped their wands into it.
    "Planvisero Plendium," they shouted at the same time, afterwards chugging
    the contents in their own cups.
    "Ewww."
    They began to all gack and choke as they felt the thick slimy substance
    make it's way down their throats. Harry felt it go straight to his right
    wrist and was surprised when he saw a thin rope made of smoke wrap itself
    around his arm. Looking up startled, he saw that Hermione and Ron had
    encountered the same phenomenon. Looking back at his arm he saw the smoke
    slither to the tip of his wand that had been dipped in the potion. As soon as
    it had connected with it, there was a resounding crack, and the smoke disappeared.
    "Quick," hissed Hermione, get rid of your cups. Using her wand she
    quickly transfigured the now empty cauldron into a book, taking it as she
    shot them a look and fled to the girls dormitory. Harry and Ron grabbed their
    cups and ran to their bed chambers, hearing the lights switch on and voices
    saying, "What was that?"
    Without sparing each other a glance they jumped into their own beds and
    pulled the curtains; right before they heard the footsteps of several people
    running below to the common room. Harry could distinctly hear the shrill voice of
    Thomas Grindal, an overexcited sixth year prefect, rise above the rest of the
    noises demanding everyone to let him through.
    Safe in his bed Harry caught his breath and sighed in relief. Settling
    himself under the covers, he looked down at his wrist that had been encircled
    by the smoke. It didn't look any different and felt the same. Still, Harry
    felt secure with the knowledge that Hermione had made the potion and that he
    would never be without his wand again.
    Ron had nearly become hysterical and Harry had stood there in shock, both
    staring at the wand Bill held in his hand. It's lone appearance meant one of
    few things. Harry had been right in trusting Hermione that night; the spell
    turning out perfectly. Afterwards, they had not been able to leave their
    wands farther then five feet before it disappeared and reappeared in their
    pockets or hands. Wherever on their body they focused it to come. Harry had
    later found out from Hermione that the bind was permanent. There were only
    three ways to break it. The first was the use of more magic. Powerful dark
    magic could always break the strongest bonds, this Harry knew from
    experience. Second, if the three that had recited their commands together got
    together and performed a counter potion, similar to the one they had done
    before; once again the bind could be broken. Lastly, the reason Ron and Harry
    now stood shell shocked; death. Upon the wand's master's death, the bind would
    break.
    ******************************************************************************
    Someone must have put a powerful memory charm on her to make her forget
    herself; unable to recognize him. But who would do it, and it still didn't
    explain her changes and odd companion. _It might not have been her, you might
    have been mistaken._ His brain tried to reason. But no, he was sure it was
    her; riding on the same instinct that had once long ago identified her wand.
    Pushing his body to his limits, he had spent countless hours in search of
    her. He knew he probably should have gone or at least owled home as soon as
    he spotted her, and justified his actions by telling himself he didn't want
    to raise anyone's hopes in case it turned out to be someone else. Truth be
    told, the urgency in him to find her erased all desire to take off time to go
    home or write a lengthy letter explaining the events that were transpiring.
    He just didn't have the time. She was a night ahead of him, and he didn't
    want to give her a further head start to get away. It was nearly impossible
    now and giving her more time might insure that he would never find her, and
    he needed to see her again.
    ******************************************************************************
    


	4. 


    **Lost and Found **
    Chapter 4: Moving Foward
    written by: misanoe
    "GYAAAH!" Bill scrambled off the ground and bumped his head on the branch
    above him. "Owwww." He fell on his butt, his head ricocheting from the branch
    to the ground.
    For the last few days, every time Bill closed his eyes to rest; he swore
    that he felt something watching him. It was the same feeling you get when
    your alone, and your sure if you turn around you will find a person right
    behind you. The intense feeling got so strong that Bill would lie there with
    his eyes closed, suddenly opening them in hopes of catching a glimpse of his
    imaginary intruder.
    He had once even gone so far as to venture out and about the woods, his
    wand lighting his way in the dark night. Never had he once found anything,
    and he was tired of trying. After a while, he decided to ignore his
    "feelings" and to pretend everything was fine. He just added it to his I'm
    going crazy list; which was rapidly growing longer and longer.
    So of course, he did not open his eyes to check when he heard and
    imaginary person walking towards him to hover above him. He was determined to
    not give into his imagination and kept his eyes firmly shut, resisting the
    temptation to open them for just a second to check. Sadly enough, it was a
    leaf that had fallen on his face, which startled him into opening his eyes.
    So clearly he was not prepared to find a pair of dark glowing eyes peering down at
    him from above. Which leads us back to;
    "GYAAAH!" Bill scrambled off the ground and bumped his head on the branch
    above him. "Owwww." He fell on his butt, his head ricocheting from the branch
    to the ground.
    It was not something he was expected, and this was one of the few times
    he felt rather flustered. Great he thought to himself, he was becoming Percy.
    Although academically Bill had the most in common with Percy, both
    being Head Boy's of Hogwarts; there were no two boys who's personalities
    resembled each others as little as possible.
    Percy, he heard from Ron and of course could well imagine himself, was
    considered rather prudish at school. Walking around with his shoulders back
    and his chest thrust forward-- reminding everyone he was the Head Boy. As if
    they would be able to forget, with him constantly running about telling
    everyone what to do or not to do. It was no wonder that Fred and George
    picked on him so. Percy was easy to nettle and amusing to watch when he
    blustered up in indignation for some wrong that had been inflicted upon him.
    When Bill had attended Hogwarts, he had been less prim; more laid back
    and easy going. Perhaps he had been a bit of a womanizer, but he was a good
    looking chap and that was something he couldn't help. He gave a slight smile
    as he remembered the many girls at Hogwarts that had fallen for his roguish
    charms.
    Percy had been a third year when Bill had been Head Boy. Bill knew that
    Percy didn't agree with how he conducted his affairs. On more then one
    occasion Percy made it apparent that he thought Bill to be too easy going,
    not strict enough; or he jumped around from girl to girl too often, and it
    reflected poorly on his character. His robes were to wrinkled, his hair was
    slightly awry. He hung out with his friends and females to much, not spending
    enough time in the library studying or doing extra curricular activities.
    Percy was always following him, nagging Bill on setting a good example for
    the other students. He was proud that his older brother was Head Boy, but he
    thoroughly disagreed on how Bill filled his position.
    So intent was he on changing his brother's behavior, that he began to
    actually irritate Bill, who to get rid of him said, "When you're Head Boy do
    what you want, but for the love of everything good and my sanity, stop
    nagging me. Really you're worse then mum."
    Percy huffed and puffed but left Bill alone. And afterwards Bill was sure
    that Percy kept a hidden notebook of all the wrongs Bill committed as Head
    Boy, to file for future reference of things not to do when he was Head Boy at
    Hogwarts.
    As brothers they love each other; as two very different young men, they
    didn't understand each other.
    "Hermione!" Before she could disappear he grabbed her wrist letting go
    instantly when he felt a shock where his skin had touched hers.
    She looked down at her arm, alarmed at what she had also felt. Staring at
    him curiously, she stepped in closer and brushed the back of her palm across
    his left cheek.
    They were both assaulted with a strange tingling feeling, foreign, but not
    unwelcome. Bill held his breath as he saw her index finger rise to lightly
    trace his face. She bent down over him and peered closely at his skin, in awe
    of the feeling it evoked. Paying no attention to Bill who turned quite pale,
    she cupped his face with her hands and let them trail down his neck to his
    shoulders, where they lingered for several seconds. Actually, the sensation
    he felt when she touched his skin was rather pleasant.
    Bill closed his eyes when he saw how close her face was to his. She was
    concentrating on his skin, her hands roaming around his body; his breath
    became ragged when she leaned her head in forward to brush her lips against
    his collar bone.
    The slight flick of her tongue against his skin made his eyes fly wide
    open. Looking up in alarm, he could tell by the look on her face that she had
    no intent to seduce or bed him. She looked at his skin; her face furrowed in
    concentration, and he could tell that what she felt when she touched his skin
    was not a normal thing for her either. Bill was relieved, yet disappointed
    when she stood up away from him. He began to berate himself for his school
    boy behavior. He was acting like he had never been touched by a woman before.
    But her touch, his brain insisted, was different.
    She began to walk away from him, her hair and robe swirling about her
    despite the lack of wind.
    "Stop!" Bill croaked out hoarsely.
    She did not acknowledge him and continued to walk. After several seconds
    she stopped, Bill's eyes turned incredibly big as he saw her levitate off the
    ground. She turned to look at him.
    "What are you waiting for?"
    Bill got up and ran towards her, giving a yelp of surprise when he felt
    an invisible hand lift him off his feet. "What the bloody hell?" He began to
    swear as he went higher and higher. Before he could catch his breath, he
    found himself hurtling forward faster then he could ever hope to go on his
    broom.
    "Where are you taking me?" he blurted out, staring at the forest which
    was becoming a big thick blur as they gained speed. They were going deeper
    and deeper into the forest. He now realized the weeks he had traveled through
    the forest had not even been close to touching the heart of it.
    "I'm taking you home to be my love slave."
    Bill looked up at her startled and became a bright red shade, greatly
    flustered once again.
    She rolled her eyes at his panicked look. "I'm just joking you know." She
    grinned.
    Bill sent her a dark glare as he watched her settle down comfortably with
    her back towards him.
    "You might as well get comfortable," she called out. "This trip is going
    to take a while."
    It was disconcerting for Bill to see her curled up on thin air while they
    went streaking through the forest. But it was most disconcerting for Bill to
    look down and see himself thirty feet above air, swerving to and fro to avoid
    the trees before them. He looked at Hermione to focus his attention
    elsewhere, his mood serious once more as he realized who it was less then ten
    feet away from him.
    "Hermione..."
    She gave no acknowledgment of hearing him. He did not know if she was
    asleep or ignoring him; she just laid there, her back facing him.
    ******************************************************************************
    "Perhaps we should try and bring up the subject with them dear." Mr.
    Weasley brought up to Mrs. Weasley one sunny morning.
    "She's been missing for almost two years, you do know the possibility of
    her being alive is minuscule. The most we can do is hold a funeral in her
    honor so her friends and family can say good-bye and move on with their
    lives."
    "I know, I just don't know how I'm going to bring up the subject with
    them. You realize that Harry is still searching for her, and although Ron
    tries to convince Harry that it's useless to continue; even he still hopes
    that she might be alive. Without a body, they'll never know whether she is
    truly dead."
    Mr. Weasley pulled Mrs. Weasley in his arms and murmured in her hair,
    "They're not the only ones that need to let go."
    Mrs. Weasley began to sniffle into Mr. Weasley's shoulder. "I still
    can't believe that she's gone. If I try hard enough, I can almost make myself
    believe that she's out there, living her life in peace."
    "You do know that not even Dumbledor-" Mr. Weasley's sentence was
    interrupted by Mrs. Weasley's sob.
    "I know... I know. Still, hope is a powerful thing."
    "That it is." Mr. Weasley tilted her chin up with his finger so he could
    stare at her tear streaked eyes. "But deep down you know, it's time to let
    go."
    Hermione Granger
    8-07-1986 - 5-01-2005
    Outstanding Soul
    Beloved Friend
    May Your Spirit Rest in Peace,
    Wherever You Are
    Her funeral was held two and a half years after her disappearance. Her
    family, friends, and fellow students had come from wide and far to attend.
    It was a dismal day, as funerals go; the sky was cloudy and half way into
    the sermon, a light sprinkle kissed the grieving crowd below. The heaven's
    cried for her loss, joining the dozens of people in mourning.
    When the sermon ended and the crowd dispersed, you could not help but
    overhear gossip that flew madly from group to group. "I heard she was killed
    by You-know-who," whispered an old witch with brown hair. "Poor dear, another
    victim of You-know-who," murmured the witch next to her. It was human nature
    to talk, and the rumor mill was fueled greatly when one very important person
    not only to the magic world, but to Hermione, did not show up.
    It had been hard enough for Mrs. Weasley to get Ron to attend the
    funeral, but Harry was a lost cause. He was infuriated when he found out that
    they were holding a funeral for her. He flat out refused to come, and while
    everyone stood in front of a stone and mourned her loss; he searched for her.
    Harry had sworn to himself that he would never give up. As long as there
    was no body, there was hope. And he clung to that hope desperately, refusing
    to let go.
    A solitary figure stood on the hill her gravestone lay. Everyone else had
    left in a hurry, as the light sprinkle turned into a pouring drizzle. Another
    man with an umbrella climbed the small hill, to stop next to his brother.
    "Are you okay?"
    Ron didn't reply.
    "I'll let you be alone for a bit."
    Before Bill could leave, Ron spoke out into the air.
    "Standing here," Ron searched for words to say while Bill waited
    patiently for him to continue. "I think I finally realize she's gone." He
    stared at the stone silent, weighing the words he spoke carefully in his
    head.
    "I didn't understand why Mum and Dad were so insistent on holding this
    whole thing. It seemed to have no point, and it made me angry. God it made me
    angry. There wasn't even a body and here they were, willing to declare her
    dead. But standing here I know." The rain poured relentlessly on him, his wet
    red hair clinging to his head.
    "She was my friend. I need to say good-bye, at least I now have
    something to say it to."
    "Here take this Ron." Bill gave his umbrella to Ron who listlessly held
    onto it with one hand. "It's pouring. I'll wait for you at the bottom of the
    hill. Take your time."
    Ron gave a slight nod.
    Bill walked down the hill, the rain pouring on his now unprotected frame.
    When he got to the bottom he was thoroughly drenched, looking up he could
    make out the slight figure of Ron, whose shoulders were hunched forward;
    speaking to her stone.
    _Say your good-byes._ Bill silently whispered to his little brother.
    ******************************************************************************
    There was another figure with unruly black hair and thick black glasses
    hidden by the trees, who stood from afar and watched Ron mourn the loss of
    Hermione.
    _She was gone and I was unable to find her. Unable to save her from
    whatever had happened. Why was it the people I cared the most about
    disappeared or vanished from my life, leaving me with things that didn't
    matter. I now went on with the hope that I would find her. For over two
    years I've searched, and I won't stop. I will ... find her._
    
    ******************************************************************************
    


End file.
